[News Inside] Helpless Against Inter-floor Noise: This Cannot Continue

Over 30,000 Phone and Online Consultations Annually
Police Reports Often Lead Only to Mediation
Retaliatory Crimes Continue Amid Ongoing Conflicts
Calls to Expand Police Authority for Forced Entry

The fire incident at an apartment in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, is believed to have originated from a conflict over inter-floor noise. There have been several cases in which disputes over inter-floor noise have escalated into murder. Even excluding such extreme crimes, inter-floor noise has long been one of the most difficult problems for society or the government to intervene in or resolve.

According to the Korea Environment Corporation on April 24, the number of phone and online consultations received by the "Neighbor Noise Center" regarding inter-floor noise last year totaled 33,027 cases. This is an increase of about 275% compared to 8,796 cases in 2012, when the center first began offering consultations. Notably, since 2020, the number of annual cases has consistently exceeded 30,000. In 2024 alone, there were 1,888 on-site visits and noise measurements conducted when issues were not resolved through phone consultations. This figure has also continued to rise each year since 897 cases in 2020.

Few Effective Solutions

However, even when consultations or on-site assessments are conducted, there are few effective solutions. Of the 198 disputes submitted to the Inter-floor Noise Dispute Mediation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from 2019 to last year, only 40 cases resulted in mediation agreements. The committee's decisions are not legally binding. Even if the police are notified, it is often difficult to find a legal basis to investigate inter-floor noise, so in most cases, mediation on-site is the only practical option.

Another issue is that the standards for inter-floor noise are too lax, making it difficult to prove actual harm. According to regulations on the range and standards of inter-floor noise in multi-family housing, the domestic standard for "impact noise" (noise generated by direct impact on floors and walls) is a one-minute equivalent continuous noise level of 39 dB during the day and 34 dB at night.

Of the 3,609 cases in which the Neighbor Noise Center measured noise over the past 10 years, from 2014 to last year, only 416 cases (11.5%) were recognized as exceeding the legal standard. The remaining 88.5% (3,193 cases) were measured within the standard. Some argue that the standard should be strengthened to match the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations of 35 dB during the day and 30 dB at night for indoor noise.

Photo by Yonhap News

A Series of Retaliatory Crimes

There are numerous cases in which individuals who report inter-floor noise disputes to the police face retaliation. In October last year in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, a man in his 60s, after being questioned by the police due to a downstairs neighbor's report over inter-floor noise, immediately went to the neighbor's home with cooking oil and a lighter and threatened to set fire if the door was not opened. He was subsequently arrested. In January last year, a resident in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, murdered an upstairs neighbor on the stairs of an apartment building after a dispute over inter-floor noise.

Inter-floor noise began to emerge as a significant social issue after the murder in Myeonmok-dong, Seoul, during the Lunar New Year holiday in 2013. At that time, a resident angered by inter-floor noise went upstairs and called out two brothers in their 30s, then killed them with a weapon. The upstairs apartment was occupied by an elderly couple in their 60s, and the victims had been visiting their parents for the holiday when the tragedy occurred.

According to a 2023 report by the Police Policy Research Institute at the Korean National Police University titled "A Study on the Characteristics of Inter-floor Noise Crimes and Police Response Measures," the number of first-instance court rulings related to inter-floor noise crimes increased from 43 cases in 2013 to 125 cases in 2022, nearly tripling. During the same period, there were a total of 62 cases of murder and attempted murder, accounting for 8.4% of the total, as well as 128 cases of bodily injury, 98 cases of aggravated threats, and 93 cases of assault.

How Other Countries Respond

In countries such as the United States and Germany, it is common for lease agreements to include provisions allowing landlords to terminate contracts due to persistent inter-floor noise. However, in Korea, it is difficult not only for landlords to terminate contracts due to inter-floor noise, but also for tenants to do so. Tenants who wish to move out during the contract period must bear financial losses. In 2023, a court ruled in favor of a landlord in a case where a tenant notified of contract termination due to inter-floor noise, stating, "The standards for inter-floor noise are imposed on the housing developer, not the landlord."

In some U.S. states, local ordinances allow for fines of up to $250 or imprisonment for up to 90 days for acts that cause inter-floor noise. In Germany, the Federal Regulatory Offenses Act stipulates that a person who creates noise that disturbs neighbors or may harm others' health can be fined up to 5,000 euros.

Oh Yoonseong, a professor of police administration at Soonchunhyang University, stated, "If individuals habitually refuse to cooperate with mediation even after police directly measure the decibel levels with noise meters, legal authority should be expanded to allow for forced entry, among other measures."

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) said, "The government must establish a legal basis to properly fulfill its role in management and supervision." The CCEJ has petitioned for the enactment of the "Inter-floor Noise Management Act for Multi-family Residential Facilities," which would mandate comprehensive noise surveys by construction companies, strengthen penalties for exceeding noise standards, and introduce a noise labeling system.